Music Technology for Educators

Recently I was asked about USB Microphones.  These are mics that you can connect directly to your computer with no need of a “box” in the middle to convert the signal to digital.  With one of these mics, you can record directly into Audacity or GarageBand with nothing else needed.  In short, I love them.  They work at a wonderfully high level without a lot of expense and almost no difficulty.  Here are a few low-cost, big value mics I would recommend:

Samson C01U USB Condensor Mic (~$75)

Snowball by Blue Microphones USB Condensor Mic (~$85)

Snowflake by Blue Microphones “Travel-Size” USB Condensor Mic (~$70)

I own and use the Samson regularly for recording auditions for later review, and for voice-overs on study recordings and podcasts.  If this is your first foray into digital recording, however, I would strongly urge that you look at this one:

Samson G Track USB Microphone and Audio Interface (~$125)

The G-track is a large-diaphragm condensor mic with USB connectivity, a computer audio interface, and boasts a stereo headphone jack for no-latency monitoring. Record vocals and an instrument directly to a computer with this amazing combination of a large diaphragm studio condenser and an audio interface that resides snugly in the microphone’s body. The G Track comes with a desktop mic stand, mic clip, USB and audio cable. The G Track also includes Cakewalk SONAR LE audio recording software.  If you are a singer/songwriter, you can sing into the mic, plug your guitar or digital keyboard directly into the bottom of the mic, and plug your headphones into the bottom to hear your plug-ins and processing!  Nothing else needed!  Recording on two separate tracks, voice and line input, with one mic.  You can even mix the levels and set the playback volume with handy spring loaded knobs on the side of the mic casing.  Once you have them set, just push them back into the casing so that they don’t accidently get turned.  Incredible!

I would love to explore the Snowball more.  I’ve never had the chance to use one myself, but the folks at Blue make wonderfully sounding mics and the price is so low!  Does anyone have experiences with either of the Blue USB mics?  I’d love to hear about your findings.

Enjoy.

~ by Andrew Spang on November 8, 2008.